Selling a business in the United States. What it is worth, and how it sells.
United States | London and New York
What it is worth, and how it sells.
We advise owners of HVAC, plumbing, fire protection and dental businesses on sale processes across the United States. Start with a free written valuation report. It takes a minute, costs nothing, and tells you what a buyer would actually pay.
. Above that, buyers price on adjusted EBITDA, and the multiple depends chiefly on how much of your revenue is contracted and recurring.
than project-led businesses of identical profit. Bands below are DealFlowAgent estimates, not a quotation.
Each guide covers what your business is worth, who buys in your sector, what buyers test in diligence, and what to fix before you go to market.
The method, not a marketing number. How buyers rebuild your earnings, which add-backs survive a quality of earnings review, and the arithmetic behind the range.
What the documents are for, what buyers expect to find in them, and how owners decide when the right moment has arrived.
We advise owners nationwide. Buyer behaviour is not uniform across the country, and which region you are in changes who is at the table and how quickly they move.
Regional notes describe patterns in the acquisition criteria buyers register with us. They are not a forecast of what any individual business will achieve.
We advise owners nationwide and publish regional detail where we have live activity.
Service agreement bases, replacement mix and the SDE to EBITDA crossover. What Sun Belt platforms actually pay.
Membership plans, drain and trenchless capability, and why combined plumbing and HVAC prices higher than either alone.
Code-mandated inspection revenue, deficiency conversion and the difference between an ITM book and an install contractor.
How DSOs price post-associate EBITDA, why collections-based offers are not comparable, and what lease terms do to your price.
How to value a heating and air conditioning business: SDE against EBITDA, what a maintenance agreement base is worth, and a worked example from tax return to enterprise value.
What margin buyers expect, how service, drain, remodel and new construction revenue are priced apart, and why combined plumbing and HVAC prices higher than either alone.
Why code-mandated inspection and testing revenue prices several turns above installation, what buyers verify in the ITM book, and a worked example.
What a CIM contains, how it differs from a teaser, what buyers read first, and the disclosure mistakes that cost sellers price during diligence.
Readiness, earnings trend and structure. The twelve to twenty-four month preparation window, and the tax questions to raise with your CPA before a letter of intent.
The most actively consolidated market we see. Population growth, year-round cooling load and a dense field of private equity platforms in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio mean a well-run service business usually has several credible bidders rather than one.
Platforms here underwrite the recurring base line by line, so documentation matters more than presentation.
Heavy consolidation across HVAC, fire protection and dental, with a large residential base and strong replacement demand. Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee are following the same pattern a few years behind Florida.
We publish regional detail for Florida and Miami, where we have had live activity.
Similar dynamics to Texas at smaller scale. Buyers are building density around Phoenix and Las Vegas and will pay for route overlap in markets they already serve.
Bolt-on pricing here depends heavily on how close you sit to an existing platform footprint.
Higher labour cost, tighter regulation and Title 24 energy requirements. Buyers pay for compliance capability and for licensed technicians who can deliver it, and they price licence transfer risk carefully.
Electrification and heat pump capability is credited where it is evidenced by completed work.
Dual-season demand produces steadier annual revenue but a shorter replacement window. Commercial mechanical and fire protection contractors here are consolidating later than the Sun Belt.
Less competition than Texas or Florida, but more room to be the first quality asset a platform sees in the market.
Geography matters less at the smaller end. The buyer is often an individual or search fund using SBA financing, and the constraint is lender underwriting rather than local platform appetite.
Three years of clean filed tax returns is worth more here than any regional advantage.
Do you work with US business owners?
Is my business valued on SDE or EBITDA?
What are add-backs and why do they matter so much?
Add-backs are costs in your accounts that a new owner would not incur: above-market owner compensation, personal vehicles, family payroll, one-time legal or professional costs. They increase the earnings figure your multiple is applied to, so each documented dollar is worth several dollars of price. A quality of earnings review will test every one, and anything unevidenced is removed.
Who buys businesses like mine in the US?
Typically private equity-backed platforms building regional density, strategic acquirers already operating in adjacent markets, and, at the smaller end, individual buyers and search funds using SBA financing. Which of those is at your table is decided mainly by your adjusted profit and by how much of your revenue is recurring.
How long does it take to sell a business in the US?
Six to nine months from signed mandate to closing is typical for the sectors we cover. Quality of earnings work, license transfer, lease assignment and lender underwriting usually set the timetable rather than commercial negotiation.
Can I find out what my business is worth without committing to anything?
Yes. Our free valuation report takes about a minute to start. You get a written report covering the earnings a buyer would apply a multiple to, the multiple range your business currently supports, and the specific factors holding it back. There is no cost and no obligation to run a process with us.
Which states do you cover?
All of them. We are a sell-side advisory firm working from London and New York, and the sale process is run nationally rather than locally: the buyers who pay the most for a Texas or Georgia service business are frequently headquartered somewhere else. Regional knowledge matters for licensing, labour cost and buyer density, and that is covered in the regional notes on this page.
Do I need a local business broker instead?
Sell-side M&A advisory for building services, facilities management and specialist healthcare business owners across the United States.
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